Destructive Fishing Techniques And By-Catch

Destructive fishing techniques and by-catch. The further fish stocks decrease, the more extreme the fishing techniques become. When we talk about destructive fishing techniques, we are talking about the devastation of the seabed by trawling, by-catch, the use of poison and explosives and ghost nets.

How To Know Fishing Techniques

There is no other solution to the universally recognized techniques than the ban. Those who apply them must be severely punished. State laws have designated and banned many of these practices. Nevertheless, there is a great temptation to break the law for industrial fishing vessels, which make enormous profits, and for small-scale fishermen, who have to deal with the decline in fish stocks. It is clear that the larger the vessels and the better equipped they are with powerful resources, the more devastating the effects of illegal fishing techniques.

Trawl Fishery

One of the most harmful techniques is trawling, an industrial method with enormous nets that are weighed down and p lough around the seabed with metal wheels, collecting (and destroying) everything they find on their way from fish up to centenarian corals.

Many species, even endangered species, are caught indiscriminately and then often thrown dead back into the sea. These "collateral losses" (by-catch) in certain cases amount to 80% or even 90% of the catch. In addition, large areas on the seabed – the habitat in which the fish find food and protection – are crushed and destroyed. The largest nets of trawling have a "loop" as big as a rugby field, leaving more than 4km of wide scars in the sea. The injuries to the ecosystem can be permanent. In addition, trawling leaves behind floating (sometimes toxic) sediments that cloud the water, which is threatening to life. This type of fishing erases the natural properties of the environment, which allow marine animals to live, to recover and to hide under normal circumstances.

This practice, which is often used by industrial vessels in (free) deep-sea waters, sometimes regulated in territorial waters, is accused of having contributed greatly to over fishing and clearly demonstrates that global management of the industry is Missing.

The ecosystems of the large seabeds are characterized by an extraordinary biodiversity. Scientific studies of the last twenty-five years have been able to explore the extremely rich marine habitats in more than 400 m and up to 2000 m deep or even more. Although there is almost no light here, the pressure is strong and the currents are very weak, there are numerous species in the deep sea. These fish live in extreme conditions and have very slow growth, a high life expectancy and reach sexual maturity late; as a result, they are particularly vulnerable to disturbances in their habitat. However, the endangered marine ecosystems are not only on the high seas: trawling also causes serious damage in the deep-sea mountains and on the steep slopes of the Schelfränder.

The scientific community and many NGOs are calling for an international moratorium to protect deep-sea seabeds from trawling. At this stage, the efforts of the Member States in this respect are insignificant.

By-catch

One of the most important, scandalous aspects of the decay of the oceans. By-catch is defined as any creature sewn from the sea which deviates from the intended fishing target. This "committee" includes specimens of the species sought, but the size of which is not compliant, as well as other species that are not eaten or have no market, prohibited or endangered species such as certain birds, turtles and marine mammals. Some fish are discarded only because the ship does not have a licence to land them, because there is no place on the ship or because they do not belong to the species that the master has decided to fish. Everyone – and we are talking about MILLIONS OF TONS of fish – are thrown back into the sea dead or injured.

A recent WWF report estimates that 40% of the total catch is by-catch and in many cases the young specimens. The dramatic consequences for the ability of species to reproduce and regenerate stocks are easy to see. Apart from the strain on species, it is a monstrous waste of food – both for human consumption and for the predators of the sea. Experts point out that industrial fishing vessels throw millions of unwanted fish back into the sea every year, whereas this is not the common place in small-scale fishing.

Poison And Explosives

The use of poison to kill or stun fish is very common, both in the sea and in fresh water, even in coastal lagoons and coral reefs. Cyanide fishing, for example, is practiced in the decimated, devastated coasts of the Philippines – where 65 tons of cyanide are estimated to enter the water every year – to isolated areas east of Indonesia and other Western Pacific countries. In many places, the use of poison in fishing is a traditional technique, but the negative effects have become stronger since chemical pesticides replaced the herbal substances. The poison kills all organisms in the ecosystem, including the corals that form the reefs.

The use of explosives, the so-called dynamite fishery, has also existed and expanded for centuries. The explosions can form very large craters that devastate 10 to 20 m2 of seabed. They kill not only the fish they are looking for, but also the fauna and flora in the area. In the coral reefs, the reconstruction of the damaged habitats takes decades. Explosives are readily and cheaply available. They often come from the mining industry or construction. In many regions, explosives are extracted from old ammunition from past or ongoing wars. Elsewhere, fishermen get them through illegal arms trafficking.

Ghost Nets

Ghost nets are the nets and other material that are usually randomly (but also deliberately) abandoned in the water and continue to capture useless fish, mollusks, but also large marine mammals, after hours of struggle to breathe surface, die from exhaustion. The problem of abandoned or lost equipment is increasing as fishing is intensified and more and more equipment is made of resilient synthetic material.

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